Companies and other large entities increasingly rely on distributed computing where many user terminals connect to one or more servers that are centrally located. These locations called “data centers” may be facilities owned by the company or may be supplied by a third-party. These data centers house not only computers, but may also have persistent connections to the Internet and thus, conveniently house networking equipment such as switches and routers. Web servers and other servers that need to be network accessible are often housed in data centers. Where a third-party owns the data center, the entity in question rents a “cage” or enclosure that has racks upon which assembled/standalone units, such as computers and routers, can be installed. The entity may also simply lease the units that are rack-mountable from the third-party. In any case, the data center is usually divided into a number of predefined areas, including a shipping/docking area, assembly area, and area where enclosures and their constituent racks are kept.
Typically, the business process of installing and operating new computer or networking systems involves a series of independent stages. First, based on determined requirements, components of the systems are ordered through a vendor or supplier. Once the components for these systems are received, inventory logs the “asset” tag for the assembled rack-mountable unit which identifies it for future reconciliation/audits. While the order for the units or components thereof themselves may identify a number of attributes that each unit/component should have (i.e. amount of memory, number of ports, model number etc.), the inventory systems often do not, and may only be concerned with the fact that the item was in fact received, and what the serial number or other distinguishing identifier is. Conventional asset IDs track accounting information such as depreciation, but not other attribute information.
Once a unit or set of components which assemble to form a unit is received it is ready to be installed in the data center. Installation and assembly of components that make up a deployable “asset” is not typically performed by those employed in the receiving/warehousing department or by those who track inventory. The current environment relies on highly skilled employees for all aspects of component assembly. Because such skilled workers are in short supply, the assembly of new components into rack-mountable units in a data center can take weeks. Further, such assembly takes a longer time because the installer must first discover the configuration and other attributes of the components as well as the plan for assembly. The assembly of such components is controlled by management systems how the components are to be connected etc (i.e. the plan).
The management system is the product/care of the administrative or Information Technology (IT) departments within a large entity such as a corporation. The management system must identify, once products are received, what they consist of, and how to configure or install them. This information must be decided by the skilled technician by looking at parts that have been received or looked up by tracking the items received in the warehouse back to the original purchase order which originated the items. As is often the case, the skilled assembler must take the received components and inspect/test them to find out its attributes and configuration because the original order data and the received physical component cannot be easily correlated.
There is thus needed a more efficient assembly process that requires less use of skilled workers and increases the reliability of the assembly job and time-to-assembly of units.